


Eir

by SleepyOceanGirl



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe, DAN AND PHIL - Freeform, Depression, M/M, Phan - Freeform, Phanfiction, Romance, Royalty AU, getting better, kingdom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 07:32:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12601476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyOceanGirl/pseuds/SleepyOceanGirl
Summary: Dan loses everything and is forced to grow up too soon. Phil is there to help make things better.





	Eir

In the Kingdom of Eir, there was a young prince turned king. His father before him had been one of the greatest rulers that the Kingdom had seen in centuries. He ruled with an iron fist when it came to neighboring kingdoms, but had nothing but pure love for his people. On the eve of his son’s seventeenth birthday, the reigning King was slain by the hands of his own brother. Rumors circulated that perhaps the King had seduced his brother’s wife, or that maybe it had been the work of the rebels, using the brother as a scapegoat, angry at his brother for maintaining the war in the East. The more likely explanation was that the man was angry that he had not been the one to inherit the crown, and had gone mad in his own anger. Soon after the murder, he took his own life, with his wife following suit. 

Whatever the cause, it left Eir without a proper ruler. The King’s wife had taken to her bedchambers and refused to move, not even to eat. It didn’t take long for her to whither, and soon she became nothing but a husk. A shell of who she had once been, and was no longer. She passed quietly, most of the Kingdom unaware of her death. It is because of this that on his eighteenth birthday, Daniel Howell became the seventeenth king of Eir, and certainly the youngest monarch the Kingdom had ever seen. 

Daniel, growing up, had been fairly rowdy. Did what was expected of boys to do, rode horses, got into fights, and, beginning in his early teenage years, stayed out until the early colors of dawn began to show. After his father’s death, the boy sobered up entirely. He, like the Queen, began to lock himself away. No more was the Kingdom filled with laughter from the royal family, nor was it prosperous and colorful as it had once been. It showed, both inside and outside. The garden was left unattended and began to wilt, the flowers slowly losing their color and their petals as time went on. The people inside the palace were much the same. They lost their cheery demeanors, instead choosing to go about their duties as quickly and quietly as possible. No one so much as dared to glance in the Prince’s direction.

At his coronation, the Kingdom was silent. There was no parade like normal, with people cheering and dancing to whatever music was being played in the streets. No one was throwing cherry blossom petals from baskets and there weren’t trumpets and horses. There wasn’t a celebration at all. Rather four people gathered in a room, none of them caring in the least bit about being present for the ceremony. Dan kneeled, eyes trained on the ground, as the minister spoke the duties of the king. A royal advisor stood next, as to bear witness to the ceremony, and the other person was a maid, who had entered to clean the floors. Not even Dan’s mother had bothered to show up, not that he had expected her to.

The coronation was announced by royal decree to the people, but it was stated halfheartedly in the town square, and most people simply kept walking. For a while, it was almost as if the people, like the palace, had been put under a trance. No one looked up, and everything turned gray. 

Eir became known as the melancholy kingdom, and Dan the Melancholy King. For a while, things went about the way they had been since the old King’s death. No one dared start a war with them, there was no reason to. They had nothing to offer, but a sad kingdom and an even sadder king. Dan did nothing much but stare out his window and watch fog curl around the once beautiful gardens.

It wasn’t until about halfway through his first year that something finally seemed to capture the interest of the new king. And that interest would come in the form of a boy named Phil Lester. 

Phil was an orphan who grew up on the streets. A bright boy, with an even brighter personality. If the Kingdom of Eir was fog, Phil was the sunshine that broke through. His hair was blacker than night, and eyes bluer than any ocean Dan had ever, and would ever, see. Until he got up close, and noticed that they were blue, green, and yellow. A kaleidoscope of colors all exploding to create the most enchanting eyes Dan had ever seen. 

When they first met, it had been an accident. Phil had gotten tired of life on the streets, and had wormed his way into working at the palace. It wasn’t hard and he all but strolled in. It wasn’t like anyone was paying attention, it was like living among the dead. When he just showed up, no one had the energy to question it, and if they did,they didn’t care enough to ask. But Phil wasn’t cut out for the work that they would normally give to a man, especially one his age. So instead, they gave him the job of a palace maid. He was to clean the royal chambers and to remember not to make eye contact with the King. 

The job wasn’t hard. Phil could manage to dust a few things and make a bed. the King was typically locked away in a room somewhere in the castle so avoiding him should have been easy. Plus it was giving him a place to stay and food to eat. And anything was better than the streets. For the first few months, Phil managed just as well. He didn’t cause any problems, and mostly kept to himself, the gardens, though they were almost wilted to nothing, and to the horses in the stable, who had become the only things in Eir that didn’t seem to dull in the wake of the previous King’s death.  

Ironically, it was in the stables that Phil had managed to break the one rule the head maid had given him. It was raining outside, which wasn’t anything new in the Kingdom, it was like the gods wanted to add to their misery, and Phil had found himself in the need for company. It was apparent that no one in the palace was in the mood to socialize  _ ever _ , so Phil went to one of the few places that had become his solace in his few months of palace working. The horses, who had become accustomed to all the gloom of the Kingdom, simply knickered when they saw him enter the stable. They were lonely too, it seemed, and Phil was the only human to actually pay attention to them rather than just simply feed and look after them since the depression had gripped the land. The only horse who had any human contact other than from Phil was the royal horse, Susan. She was a black mare who demanded nearly all of Phil’s attention when he entered the stables. She would scrape her foot on the ground and huff until he made his way over to her and put his hand on her nose. He made sure that he gave all the horses attention and treats when he came to visit, but Susan was always his favorite. She seemed gentle, and sweet. Contrary to what the stablehand had told him when he made his first visit. The man had said that the only person that horse in particular ever let near her was none other than Dan himself. But she was docile with him, and it was hard for Phil to believe such an allegation against such a lovely animal.

Until it came from the King’s own mouth.

Phil had simply been stroking Susan’s mane when he heard the small gasp from behind him. He’d turned quickly, knowing that he wasn’t meant to be touching the horse in the first place considering she was royal property, and was prepared for some sort of scolding from whoever had caught him. Instead, he was met with wide chocolate brown eyes and a face so lovely it could stop anyone’s heart. It was certainly stopping Phil’s, for two reasons in particular. One, the man was the most beautiful human Phil had ever seen, and two, the man also happened to be the King of Eir. 

Growing up on the streets, Phil didn’t have much access to images of the royals, but he’d  been to rallies and celebrations before the old King had died and of course there was portrait after portrait hanging up among the palace walls. But all of those were old, from back when the man couldn’t be older than thirteen. While he’d been pretty then, none of these pictures had done him justice. His face looked like it had been crafted by angels, his hair, normally straight upon his head, looked feather soft the way it was curling from the rain. 

Phil was stunned into silence, unsure what to say. For a moment, it was like the world stopped turning, and it was only them left. Then, the illusion was shattered when the King uttered a short sentence.

“What are you doing here?” And his voice was like honey, and Phil could do little more than simply  _ stare _ . 

the King didn’t say anything else, and it took Phil a moment to remember where he was, who he was, and what was going on. He shook himself a little to get back on solid ground.

“I, um, was just visiting, your highness.” When Phil spoke, his voice was rough, and he felt suddenly that he was a nervous boy speaking to his crush for the first time. 

Dan didn’t dare move, or breathe. For Phil, this was the first time seeing Dan up close and in person, but for Dan, this was meeting the boy he’d been longing to speak to for ages. While Dan had been locking himself away in the study to do nothing but stare out the window at his wilted gardens, he had noticed, for the first time in months, someone standing among the roses. Or rather, where the roses had used to bloom. The man, too far away to really take note of his features other than the shocking mass of black hair atop his head, had been attempting to  _ water _ the flowers. It was the first time in months Dan had seen anyone attempt to do anything more than halfheartedly. And after that, Dan began to watch for him. On days when it rained, the man didn’t show up, for obvious reasons. But any other time, Dan would catch him among the flowers. Among the roses, the azalea, begonias, and carnations. Watering each of them, and looking almost like he was speaking to them. He’d run a finger along some of their petals (the few that there were), gently, and then move on to the next set of flowers. Eventually, the plants began to listen, and Dan could see them begin to bloom, slowly, and then suddenly there were hundreds of them. And it was the first color Dan had had in his life in a long time. 

But running into him in the stables had been a complete accident. For once, Dan wasn’t watching him, but rather just going to visit his horse that he hadn’t seen in ages. He felt awful for not giving her the attention she deserved, but he could hardly manage to give attention to anything in those days. Things were hard for him. His father’s death had been a blow, and his mother’s complete denial and shut down had been another, and then give him a kingdom to run (which he wasn’t doing well with), and Dan did what Dan did best. Stopped. And felt everything and nothing all at once. 

It was rare for him to leave his study, other than to sleep, but even sometimes he needed a bit of fresh air, and that’s how he ended up running into the man who had completely captured his attention for months now. A mix of guilt, and sheer luck, as it had seemed, had brought them together. 

And Dan wasn’t really sure what he had been expecting from their first meeting. He hadn’t even thought of their meeting at all, sure that he had gone mad and was simply imagining the man in the garden. A figure conjured up by his own lonely mind. Yet, here he was. Black hair and eyes like the ocean, more beautiful than even Dan’s imagination could have come up with. 

But of all the things Dan had, and had not, been expecting was for him to be even more composed than the man from the gardens. Dan had, miraculously, been the first one to speak, but even after doing so there was a heavy silence among the two as the man from the gardens seemed to space out entirely before coming back down to reality. 

When the man said, “I, um, was just visiting, your highness.” Dan felt it in his soul, the words reverbing back at him, shaking into his very being. Dan knew, immediately, that this man was going to change everything. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. 

The silence lingered for a moment longer, before Dan, stunned not only by the man himself, but the fact that the man was stroking his rather problematic horse like he had been doing it for years, spoke again.

“She doesn’t normally let anyone but me touch her.” The awe in his voice wasn’t feigned, nor was the statement itself. Truly, Susan hardly let anyone near her. If the man was good with flowers, perhaps he was good with animals as well. Perhaps he was good with everything. Dan was hoping he was good with troubled royalty. 

Phil, for as shaken as he was, managed a fair response, “I know I shouldn’t really be petting her, but I swear she was demanding my attention and-” He wasn’t sure if he should continue, until the King prompted.

“And?” Dan would give anything to keep him talking. To hear his voice like silk every day for the rest of his life, however long that may be.

“And she just looked so sad.” Phil let his gaze drop to the floor, not really wanting to meet the eyes of the man whose title was literally “the melancholy king” and talk about the horse looking sad. Everything in the entire kingdom looked sad, and he was sure the King knew that. 

While Phil wasn’t surprised by his immediate agreement, he was surprised by the small snort that the royal let out. Even with Phil’s limited knowledge of manners beyond the normal ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ he knew it wasn’t a noise that was exactly polite. But for some reason, it made the King seem more human. Less untouchable and more like just a boy who’d lost his dad and had to grow up far too fast for his own good.

For the first time in months, Dan actually gave more of a response than a simple sigh when someone mentioned things around the Kingdom being dull and sad, “Doesn’t everything? Of course my horse wouldn’t be any different.” He wasn’t blind to the way things had gone downhill since his father’s death, and certainly knew what the subjects of the Kingdom called him when they bothered to speak of him. 

None of it had bothered him before - the idea that everything was sad - but standing before a man who usually seemed so bright and seeing him darken only hurt Dan. What did it say about Dan if even this man seemed to dull in his presence? 

Phil stood in awkward silence, not entirely sure what to say as a response. He’d already apologized and given reason for his actions, as embarrassing as it might have been to admit. Surely the King wouldn’t punish him. No one was punished these days, because no one cared enough to get into trouble. Even the criminals in the Kingdom had taken leave. There was nothing worth stealing when no one cared about anything. 

He wasn’t sure if he should just take leave, but when the silence continued for longer than was appropriate, Phil figured it was time he retire back to his small bedroom for the day, as unhappy as the thought of being cooped up made him. It was still raining, so he couldn’t visit the gardens, and the King had obviously made his way to the stables for a reason and wouldn’t want Phil lurking around. Even if Phil wanted nothing more than to brighten his day, even a little, and to put a smile on his gorgeous face, it was apparent he wasn’t welcome, given the deafening silence that had overtaken the stables. 

Phil took a step backward, headed towards the other side of the barn in order to make his leave, before he figured he should probably make some sort of comment rather than simply walking out. 

He bowed slightly, a showing of respect, “I’ll leave you to your business, highness.” And made to hightail it out of there before the King’s honey voice called back to him.

“Wait!”

Phil stopped dead in his tracks, sure that he was about to be yelled at or at the very least scolded and told to stay away from the stables from then on. 

“What’s your name?”

That was something that Phil hadn’t been expecting. the King didn’t sound angry, rather just curious. When Phil turned to look at him,  his brown eyes were wide, full of curiosity and a hint of something Phil couldn’t quite place, but it looked a bit like longing. What for, he wasn’t sure.

“I-I’m Phil, highness.” Phil was stunned, but not one to ignore the request of a royal, no matter how odd the question may have seemed. Phil wasn’t exactly sure why the King was paying so much attention to him, but he couldn’t quite say he hated it. 

Dan could feel a warmth flood through his body at the idea of finally having a name to the face. A name to place with the nurturing personality and sweet demeanor. Before he could remember who he was, and stop himself, Dan found himself replying back in a way that was definitely not professional.

“I’m Dan.” 

Before Phil could say anything, the King turned on his heel and fled from the barn, leaving Phil feeling in awe and full of some other kind of emotion that he couldn’t quite place. The only thing he was sure of was that the King had been beautiful, and he was pretty sure he might have a small crush.

Or it was a huge one and Phil was going to spend the rest of his life pining after a man he could never have.

Phil sighed into the empty barn and Susan nickered again for his attention. This time when he put his hand to her nose, his mind was filled with the voice of her owner repeating back to him, “I’m Dan.”

That was their first meeting, and it wouldn’t be too long before they had their next. This time, in the King’s own bedchambers. It had been weird for Phil to enter into them now that he actually had spoken to the real thing instead of just pretending like he didn’t exist in the first place. He knew where the King slept, but that was about it. The entire room was devoid of almost anything personal, and Phil couldn’t help but feel like that was part of the reason the man was so depressed all the time. 

Two days after meeting the royal, Phil found himself seriously in anguish over how sad the room looked. His strongest desire, despite only having met the King once, was to make him happy. And he couldn’t be when nearly everything in the room was devoid of color. So, Phil decided to bring him flowers.

He’d gotten the gardens looking quite nice, the flowers beginning to bloom back the way they should have months ago, if only people had been paying attention to them. The roses were the first to spring up, then the begonias, then the tulips, and then eventually Phil had the whole garden looking beautiful once more, not that anyone but he really took the time to enjoy it. 

To say he was proud of it was an understatement. Phil radiated with joy simply by glancing at the array of colors splayed out among the ground, but by far his favorites of all of his hard work were the sunflowers. Obnoxiously big and colorful. It was literally impossible to simply walk past them given how in the way they were.

And on his third day of working after his encounter with the King, he cut four of them down and found a vase. And that vase full of flowers found its way onto Dan’s bed table. Phil was instantly pleased with how they brightened the always sad looking room. Satisfied with his work, he left the room humming to make his way to the gardens where he could spend the rest of his day.

When Dan entered the room that night, the first thing he noticed was the annoyingly ugly flowers on his bedside table. Even before his father’s death Dan had found sunflowers to be the most unpleasant of plant life. They were too big, too in the way, and, now, too bright. Their color offset the cool blacks, whites, and greys of Dan’s room. They looked terribly out of place, and for the life of him Dan couldn’t figure out why anyone would have put them there in the first place. The past few months whichever maid had been cleaning his room had left things the way he liked them. Nothing was ever out of place, the room was dusted, and his bed made. It was a good arrangement. He stayed out of their way, they leaved his things be. 

Whoever had done this must be new to the palace. Or new to the Kingdom entirely it seemed. Anyone who knew him, or at least of him, knew well enough that this wasn’t something that he would typically appreciate.  _ Typically _ . 

But for some reason, these flowers made him both a little angry, and dare he dream, a tiny bit happy. Angry because the man in the garden, Phil, had worked so hard to get them to bloom and someone had chopped them down with no consideration for the his hard work, and happy because...well because Phil had been the one to grow them. He’d cherished them, loved them and took care of them until they sprang back to their former glory, no matter how obnoxious Dan thought they might be. 

It could also have been that he hated them because they reminded him of himself. They were always so in the way, too large and awkward for their own good. Obviously their color didn’t match his personality at all, but just the way they  _ were  _ was enough to remind Dan too much of himself.

It was too late in the night to find the head of the maids to ask who exactly it was who was cleaning his room every morning, which, in retrospect, he probably should have asked months ago, so he’d simply wait for whoever it was that cleaned his room to show up in the morning. Then he could scold them for damaging Phil’s garden and ask them not to make any more changes to his room, no matter how much the dullness may make them sad.

He fell asleep after hours of staring at the yellow flowers that had graced his room, and when he did he dreamt for the first time in months. He dreamt of startling blue eyes and hair darker than the night sky without stars. He dreamt of a sweet smile and a laugh like water flowing over rocks. And he dreamt that, sometimes, he was laughing too.

Phil woke in the morning with an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. It might have had something to do with the fact that the King had definitely seen his flowers by now, and Phil couldn’t help but wonder how he reacted to them. Was he angry, or did he find them a nice addition? Phil was anxious to know, and he supposed he’d get his answer when he went about his duties. If the flowers were still there, then perhaps Phil would bring him more in the future. Maybe change it to a different flower. Maybe next time they would be roses, if Phil found the courage to reveal a small fraction of his little crush on the man. If they were gone, undoubtedly thrown out by a disgruntled royal, Phil would simply never do it again. He’d pretend he hadn’t done it, and carry on, no matter how sad it would make him to think that his highness hadn’t appreciated the flowers. And maybe it would feel a little bit like rejection, too.

When he entered the royal bedchambers, his eyes went straight to the vase on the bedside table. The flowers were still there, and still as bright as ever in contrast to the pale grey room. However, they weren’t the only things in the room, and it only took but a moment for Phil to realize he wasn’t alone. 

the King sat sitting on the edge of his bed. It was apparent that he’d only just woken up, given that his hair was a mess of curls and he was wearing...well practically nothing. Phil couldn’t help the blush that overtook him and he felt his whole body go red. If he’d thought the King was gorgeous before, he wasn’t really sure what to call him now. Ethereal, perhaps. He certainly looked like something straight from a fairy tale, at least in Phil’s mind. 

The small gasp he let out was enough to capture the royal’s attention. His head jerked up immediately and his chocolate eyes went immediately to Phil’s wide blue ones. The room was silent for a long time, the King himself beginning to turn red from the bottom of his feet to the very tips of his ears. 

Miraculously, Phil was the first to break the silence. He was sure he was whispering when he finally  managed to utter an apology, “I’m so sorry, your highness, you’re normally not in your room at this time and I-”

“You’re my chambermaid?” Dan intercepted the muttered apology with an incredulous look. Phil, the man who Dan had believed to be the gardener this entire time, had been the one who had complete access to his rooms? Phil, who spent so much of his time with the flowers that Dan had mistaken him to be the palace gardener, who Dan had watched from afar, longingly, for months, was the one who was in charge of cleaning up after Dan, every day? 

Phil was the one responsible for the flowers currently creating the only source of color in Dan’s otherwise dreary bedroom?

Phil felt himself blush all over again, “I know it’s not exactly a man’s job, but I was desperate and I’m not very good with physical labor.” He looked almost ashamed, as if not being able to man the horses or do otherwise ‘manly’ chores somehow dampered his masculinity. 

Dan almost couldn’t believe how lucky and unlucky he had the privilege of being almost all the time. Born a royal, only to have to give up on being a teenager too soon with the death of his father and, for all intents and purposes, death of his mother. A prince set to inherit a kingdom of joy and love, only for it to wilt when he finally ascended the throne, completely taken over by grief from the loss of their last beloved ruler. Realizing Phil was his chambermaid, but only after months and months of pining over the man from a distance. Realizing Phil was his chambermaid also meant that he knew how sad Dan was  _ all the time.  _ That this wasn’t “just for show” as many other nobles from neighboring kingdoms believed. Hell, Phil had believed him so sad that he’d felt the need to bring him flowers, just to add a little bit of color into his life. 

Phil couldn’t make eye contact with the man anymore. He was much too embarrassed by this whole thing. Not only by the fact that he was working as a maid (which was only embarrassing given that every man in the palace so far had been so far up their own asses in toxic masculinity that they made fun of him nearly every time they caught him), and that he’d walked in on the man half naked, but also because he’d left him  _ flowers _ . Of all the things for Phil to do, he left the King flowers. And such bright ones too. Perhaps the King would believe it to be an insult, and Phil was about to be reprimanded. Though, to give him credit, he hadn’t done that when Phil had been caught stroking the royal horse in the stables, so perhaps he wouldn’t do that now either.

“Why’d you leave me flowers?” Or, maybe he would, “Was it because this room looks too sad for your liking?” Dan had been raised with all the qualities of a diplomat, and currently he was using his controlled voice on Phil. He seemed devoid of any and all emotion, his voice not even plagued by even a hint of what Phil thought to be loneliness that it usually carried. Frankly, it worried Phil.

“N-No highness, I was just trying to-” Phil had to search very carefully for the right word “brighten up your room a little bit.” He kept his eyes on the ground, “I didn’t mean any disrespect, it was just after meeting you I couldn’t help but feel you needed a bit of…” Phil quickly realized what he was saying before he could finish that train of thought, and he was secretly praying that the King wouldn’t inquire him to finish that sentence.

“Needed a bit of what?” Of course, he couldn’t just leave Phil in peace.

Dan watched Phil with baited breath. He made sure to keep his tone even, like he’d been taught in all those dratted lessons about diplomacy when he was younger. He’d had to learn the right way to speak to other leaders, cool and collected. His mind, currently, was not cool and collected. Right about now, his inner conscience was a mess. His chambermaid was the man he’d seemingly developed a crush on, who had left him flowers in a vase beside his bed, and who had just walked in on him almost in the nude. The only reason he was able to deal with this calmly at all was because Phil was not. He was, currently, rambling, trying to explain himself and the situation. Dan couldn’t help but feel pity because it was obvious the man was horrified, but he also couldn’t allow himself to reveal too much, not until he had himself under control.

“You’re room just looked dreary.” Phil found himself still whispering, hoping that maybe if he said it quietly it would be almost like he hadn’t said it at all. Maybe Dan wouldn’t hear him but would be too shy to request further explanation. Maybe he would just leave it and allow Phil to die of embarrassment on his own, once he bolted from the room the first chance he got. 

This, obviously, was not going to happen. the King frowned at Phil, but it was the kind that told Phil he was upset not by what Phil said, but what he had meant. 

“Of course the room is dreary, Phil. Everything in this kingdom is.” Dan couldn’t keep the small sigh out of his voice, because it was true. And for almost the first time in ages, Dan was angry that it was true. Wanted desperately for it not to be. Wanted for the world to look like Phil’s garden. Everyone and everything back in bloom and brighter than his current future.

Phil was a bit taken back by the casual use of his name from a royal, especially a royal that was the King. No matter what people called him or said about him, he was still a king. Was still in charge of an entire kingdom and had all the power of one. He just never really looked like he could use it, Phil supposed.

But as stunned as he was at the use of his name, he was even more stunned at the words that left him immediately after.

“It doesn’t have to be.” Phil wasn’t even sure what he meant by that, just that he felt it in his soul. He felt that the Kingdom and its inhabitants didn’t have to carry this sadness with them any longer. Felt that the palace could be restored to its former glory, like what he’d done with the gardens. Felt that the King, especially, deserved to be happy. And Phil felt that he could be the one to do that. If only Dan would let him.

Dan regarded Phil for a long moment, simply watching him bounce on the balls of his feet by the door. He was uncomfortable, obviously, and clearly shocked by his own small admission just moments ago. He didn’t believe that the Kingdom had to be dreary and sad. Did that mean that he didn’t think Dan had to be sad anymore either? Dan was hoping that’s what it meant, and when the silence became almost too unbearable, he found himself jumping to fill it. 

“And how would you go about not making everyone so sorrowful, Phil?” He was genuinely curious, and he wanted nothing more than to keep the man talking. To hear about all his thoughts and ideas about how to improve the Kingdom. About how to improve Dan. “I’ve seen the work you’ve done with the gardens, a testament to that is currently sitting on my night table,” he tossed a look to the still too vibrant flowers, “and you’re telling me that you could do that with an entire kingdom of people?”

Phil, as always, blurted out the first thing to come to mind, “A kingdom is only as happy as its ruler, highness.” And, as always, he regretted it instantly. Though, he apparently wasn’t sure how to control himself because his follow up was, “If I can make you happy, then I believe it will make them happy, too.” 

Dan raised one perfectly arched brow, fully intrigued by what this man was proposing. He looked like he regretted what he had said, almost straightaway, but Dan wasn’t going to allow him to back out of whatever it was that he was getting at. He was actually amping himself up for whatever was coming next, and it was all because of this perfect stranger who had all but waltzed his way into the palace.

“You believe you can make me happy? Is that what you’re suggesting?”

God the King was beautiful. He looked so soft, sitting on the edge of his bed, curly hair in waves atop his head, and eyes so brown they looked like melted chocolate. Phil could forget himself looking at a man like this. Could sit and admire him for hours, if only he’d let him. And it was because of this that Phil found himself nodding. Yes, make the King happy. He’d give anything just to see that mouth smile. Not a quirk of the lips, but with full teeth, and a laugh unfiltered. He’d give anything, and he was going to make it happen. He steeled himself for the idea of it. For the idea of being in charge of making the man known as the “Melancholy King” smile again. 

Dan, ever the pessimist, could see that Phil earnestly meant it. He actually believed he could do this. Could bring the whole kingdom out of whatever depression it had fallen into, and actually make Dan happy again. And surprisingly, Dan could almost feel himself believing it. So far, Phil had managed to capture his attention, and surprise him multiple times. First with the garden, then with Susan, the flowers next to his bed, and now this. Perhaps, maybe, if Dan would just let him  _ try _ , he could do it. 

So, he willed himself to just let whatever was going to happen, happen. 

“Okay, Phil, you can try.” He could see the relief and excitement flood those blue eyes, and the man’s whole body relaxed visibly, “But no more sunflowers. I hate them.”

The next few weeks proved to be a struggle for both Dan and Phil. Dan had too many meetings to attend, oddly enough as he usually had none, and had almost no time to spare on whatever game he and Phil were playing. Phil, on the opposite hand, was freaking out. He wasn’t sure quite what he had gotten himself into. Sure, at the time he thought maybe it wouldn’t be so hard, but he’d also been completely overtaken by the King’s beauty and the thought of getting to spend more time, personally, with the man. As more than just the person who cleaned his bedroom and sometimes visited his horse without his permission. But this was hard. Thinking of ways to make someone happy who’d been sad for longer than Phil could even keep track of was hard. Actually doing it was even harder. 

Phil didn’t leave any more sunflowers. Instead, in their wake, he left tulips and lilies. Violets and hibiscus. A different type of flower every few days. And even though they didn’t see each other other than in passing in the halls for a good two weeks, it was still progress. Dan found his lips quirking when he would enter his rooms, exhausted after a long day of meetings, and there would be a new type of flower and a small note left on his table. 

They were always simple notes. Little things that made Dan slightly happier on the inside, even if he didn’t express it outwardly. The first few times, it was a simple “hello” or a “hope you’ve had a good day, remember to smell the flowers.” Nothing Dan really could, or would, respond to, but just a simple thing to show him that somebody was there. Then, there was a drawing of a two little corgis surrounded by a field of flowers, and then one of a shibe, and then suddenly Dan had a notepad entirely covered in dogs. Different types of dogs, big ones and little ones. All with their tongues sticking out and smiling up at him. That one got Dan to actually react, and he couldn’t help but clutch the note to himself. He’d always wanted a dog, but growing up as a prince meant he never had the time for one, and his parents would never allow it. It always made Dan a little sad, to never have a little companion to follow him around, and he was jealous of every single person who had a friend to cuddle up to at night. 

He fell asleep holding the note, because it was the first one to make him smile, and while he slept he dreamt of a hundred dogs, all running in between the feet the feet of a happy couple holding hands. One with curly brown hair and the other with razor straight black hair. 

It took three more days before Dan got another note. This one unlike any of the others. His meetings were done for the next few days, and he figured he could go back to what he had usually done, which was stare out the window sadly and watch Phil work in the garden. Until, he got the new note. 

This one was on a torn piece of paper, and accompanied by an entire vase full of ruby red roses. Dan blushed at those. He didn’t know much about flowers, but he did know that roses were the symbol of love and romance, and to think Phil had left him those sent Dan’s heart into a frenzy. The note stopped it all together. 

All it said was, “meet me in the garden at seven.” and next to it was a small drawing of a dog with a flower in its mouth. 

To say Dan was freaking out would be an understatement. He was pretty sure he’d died, given that his heart had fallen completely out of his chest. He wasn’t entirely sure what Phil was getting at with this note, or what would be waiting for him in the gardens that evening, but he felt himself bubbling with excitement. That was an emotion he hadn’t felt in months, and it was new and frightening. Foreign to the man who’d felt nothing but pure sadness for months. But Phil had told him he believed he could help Dan and the Kingdom regain some of its former glory, and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to let him try.

Phil wasn’t exactly sure if asking a royal on a date was allowed, especially when said royal happened to be the King. Was this a date? Phil believed it to be one, but he wasn’t sure if Dan would feel the same way. He wasn’t sure if Dan was even okay with the idea of being with another man, but Phil had hoped that the lingering glances he’d sent whenever they’d happened to serendipitously run into each other meant something.  _ Please let it have meant something _ .

He’d spent all afternoon working on the garden. He’d stolen almost every white candle he could find around the palace and got to work with arranging the flowers. He had to clear an area so that they would be able to be directly in the center of garden, and he made a mental note to remind himself that should something happen between he and Dan, then he would request the man have someone build a fountain or sitting area of sorts. The gardens were magical, and Phil wanted everyone to enjoy them. 

Which is exactly why he’d had the idea in the first place. It was the one place in the palace that Phil felt at home, and he’d worked hard on it. He’d spent countless hours wandering around, watering the flowers and singing to them so that they’d grow back even more alluring than they had before. He’d always had a deep appreciation for flowers, because even they could grow in the toughest of situations while still remaining delicate and beautiful. He wanted to share all of this with Dan. Wanted Dan to step away from the gloom of the grey castle walls and step into Phil’s world, full of brightness. 

He sighed. He knew that, no matter the outcome of tonight, it would be hard work to make Dan happy. And he knew he couldn’t be a cure all. Dan would need to talk to someone, a professional someone, about the problems he was having in his life, but Phil could at least be a shoulder to lean on. He hoped Dan would see him as that. Phil just didn’t want him to feel so alone anymore. 

Dan found himself pacing the length of his room mere minutes before he was supposed to meet Phil. He wasn’t sure he could go through with this. He’d been watching Phil for months, wondering what kind of person he was, and now he had the opportunity to really find out more about him. But, he just couldn’t bring himself to go. He was terrified that Phil wouldn’t accept him for who he was. This sadness that he felt wasn’t going to go away because a pretty man with flowers took him on a walk around the gardens. He didn’t want Phil to think that any of this was his fault. That he had failed at making Dan happy, because he hadn’t, if anything he’d succeeded in brightening his world, even if just for a while. 

Dan was thirty minutes late, and Phil was heartbroken. He’d lit the candles and laid out a blanket for them, and the sun was setting. He’d hoped that they could watch it together and talk, but as he watched the big star lower into the sky, he knew it wasn’t going to happen. Perhaps Dan had found his notes annoying, and was irritated that Phil had continued to leave them. He’d assumed that if Dan didn’t like them that he would tell him, but his absence spoke volumes enough. Phil could take a hint, and it was apparent that Dan did not want his company. 

He sighed after a few moments, watching the sun and its rays take their final peak before disappearing. Once they were down, he blew out the candles, tired of waiting, a little more than heartbroken, and ready to make his way back to the castle. He’d begin looking for new jobs tomorrow, and put in his notice once he’d found one. But he was definitely going to ask for a different job around the palace, at least for the time that he would have left there. There was no way he’d be able to continue to be casually in the King’s bedroom knowing that the man had, essentially, stood him up. 

He sighed again and was prepared to clean up the makeshift date when he heard a crunch and a loud huff.

“Dammit!” The voice was unmistakably Dan’s, but he sounded irritated, “ _ Dammit. _ ” 

Phil stood stunned. Had the King come out here to meet him? Why had he kept him waiting so long? Did he even know Phil was still there? 

“Way to ruin any chance of happiness, you twat.” Dan was talking to himself, Phil was sure of it. And he was also sure that the King had no idea he was still sitting there, waiting for him even though it had been a little under an hour. He figured he’d better tell him he was there before - 

“You’ve finally get a chance to go on a date with someone who came straight from your dreams and you fuck it up, of course you fuck it up, that’s what you do.”

“Your highness?” Phil finally revealed himself, lighting one of the candles, not wanting Dan to say any more than he already had and embarrass himself. Phil could feel that all the blood had rushed to his cheeks and he was sure Dan could see him glowing bright red in the dark. 

Dan jumped at the sound of another person’s voice, but quickly relaxed as his brain registered who was in the gardens with him. Only to tense up again the second he realized what he’d just revealed unwittingly. Phil was sitting only a few feet from him, but when Dan’s dark, wide eyes graced him he stood quickly. 

“I, um, waited.” It was slightly embarrassing for Phil to reveal that he’d waited all this time for someone who he was certain was going to show. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, unsure how to react to what Dan had just revealed to him without knowing that he wasn’t alone in the gardens, but he felt he needed to know exactly what the King had meant before they took whatever  _ this  _ was any further. “What did you mean by ‘someone who came straight from your dreams?”

Dan was silent for a long moment, not really sure how to react to the tough question Phil had just asked him. He’d figured that the man wouldn’t question him, no one usually did, and that they were both so awkward that they’d just let it go. But he should have known that Phil wasn’t like anyone else, and even if he was a bit on the awkward side, he did still deserve to know exactly what was going on between the two of them. The only problem was that Dan wasn’t sure if he even knew what was going on. All he was sure of was that he liked Phil, and he wanted Phil in his life. That was why he’d all but jogged to the gardens, even though he was almost positive that the man would have already left. No one stayed waiting for him, not even if he was the King. He wasn’t a catch. Not someone people waited around for. Maybe in his younger days, when he was outgoing and fun and full of life, but not anymore. Not now that he was the way he was. 

But Phil had waited. Phil had waited almost an entire hour for a man who he’d talked to in person all but two times. The notes didn’t count, because Dan never responded, and the glances were just that - glances. Yet here Phil was, waiting patiently for Dan.

Dan’s eyes filled with tears at the thought of anyone caring enough to just  _ wait  _ for him, “I’m sorry I was late.” And that was the only thing he could force out.

Phil watched Dan’s eyes fill with emotion before tears spilled over. One second he was fine, and the next, he was on the ground next to Phil, crying. Phil wasn’t sure exactly what to do, not sure if he was supposed to touch a royal or not, but it didn’t matter. He found his arms wrapping around the man who was bigger than he was, and then he was holding him so tight he was scared he might be hurting him. It wasn’t until Dan relaxed against him and began to cling that Phil finally felt comfortable enough to move, and he lifted one hand to Dan’s hair as the man sobbed against his shoulder. He wasn’t sure what had brought this on, only that he felt Dan needed this, needed someone he could rely on. Needed  _ him.  _

Dan hadn’t meant to become so emotional in front of Phil. For so long he’d been trained not to show emotion at all, but it was as if all the stress from the past year was finally being released. Dan could finally allow himself to grieve for everything he’d lost, his father, his mother, his youth, and the respect and faith of his subjects. Phil was allowing Dan to let his guard down for at least a little bit, and just simply be there for him without demanding anything in return. 

Once Dan had gotten enough control over himself that his crying was reduced to sniffles, he pulled back from Phil slightly, allowing himself the comfort of staying in the man’s arms but moving enough that he could speak to him while looking at him. His eyes were red and puffy, he could feel it, but despite that, Phil smiled at him. Just enough to show Dan that he was there for him. And Dan nearly lost it again. 

“You asked me what I meant about you coming straight from my dreams,” he held it together long enough to smile back at Phil, “I had hoped that someone would rescue me from myself, and here you are.”

Phil couldn’t help it. One look at Dan, puffy yet somehow giving a small smile, and Phil felt his resolve crumble. He pushed his mouth against Dan’s and felt the other man go still in shock before he began to respond to the kiss. It was slow and sweet, and also a first for Phil. He wasn’t even sure he was doing it right, but the way Dan seemed to melt against him must have been a good sign so he kept going for a minute longer. When he pulled away, Dan’s hands were on his face and their noses were touching. Dan’s eyes were closed, but he was still smiling and he looked almost content. Phil imagined he looked the same way. 

“Phil?” Dan whispered, not wanting to ruin their moment, “I want to work really hard for this, but I also want you to know that even though I won’t suddenly be cured, it’s not your fault.”

“I know, Dan,” Phil maintained the same airy tone that Dan did, “I don’t want to be a cure for you, just part of the solution.” And then he was kissing Dan again, and that’s how they spent the next hour with each other. Beneath the stars, getting to know each other, both through talking and kissing. 

After a few months of dating, Phil noticed a steady uplifting in Dan. He was smiling more, speaking to the palace workers and royals alike far more than he ever had before Phil came around. He still had his off days, more often than not, and eventually Phil managed to convince him to see one of the palace doctors. Dan did so because he wanted to get better not just for Phil and his kingdom, but also for himself. He didn’t deserve to be stuck in the rut that he’d found himself in, and he wanted to move forward. Wanted to become someone that the people could look up to and see as a ruler. Wanted to allow himself to be able to spend time with Phil and not be hit by sudden waves of sadness that hurt him so bad that he felt the need to lock himself away in his rooms. It would be a long road to recovery, but he wanted to do it because he  _ deserved  _ to be happy. 

When a full year came around, Dan had made progress that no one in the Kingdom had seen coming at the start. There were parties being held at the castle nearly every holiday, even though Dan didn’t really enjoy them, he did it to make the people happy, and he was more alive and active with his subjects than ever. He made weekly walks through the Kingdom streets, made sure to stop and speak to people and ask what he could improve on, and was attentive to whatever they had to say. Their King, for the first time in years, was happy. And it made them happy. The children had a role model, and the people could voice their concerns and would be listened to. 

Of course Phil made these rounds with him and plenty of people threw him gracious looks, though Phil felt they gave him far too much credit. Yes, it was true that maybe he had pushed Dan a little out of his comfort zone, but Dan had done all the hard work himself. Phil had merely been there for support when Dan felt it was needed. Of course that meant that their relationship had its ups and downs, but Phil proved it to him very early on that he was not going anywhere, no matter how hard it was sometimes. 

It wasn’t too long after their one year anniversary that they were engaged. And on their second anniversary, they were married. The ceremony itself was kept quiet, with only a few royals and palace workers in attendance. Phil had made a few friends in his time working there, and had introduced Dan to all of them. He genuinely seemed to enjoy their company, though he always preferred Phil to anyone else. 

A celebration was thrown after, with the entire Kingdom celebrating the uniting of their King and the man they believed had brought brightness back into their dull lives. Dan and Phil made a brief appearance, showing their appreciation for the joy that everyone was spreading, but they quickly found themselves back in their own quarters. 

Later, after everything had settled down and they’d relaxed against each other in bed, breathing softly, Dan thanked Phil.

“I know you don’t believe you’ve done much in helping me get better,” he started slowly, softly tracing his fingers along Phil’s bare skin, “but if it wasn’t for you, I’d never have gotten the courage to get myself help. Thank you.”

Phil smiled into Dan’s hair, pressing a small peck to the top of his curls, “No, thank you, for having the courage to exist, Daniel Howell.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can check out my tumblr [ here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sleepyoceangirl)  
> Thanks for reading!


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